An education charity has passed the halfway mark in its pledge to put one million teenage girls in Africa through school by 2020.

Cambridge-based Camfed announced that it had supported more than 500,000 young girls in its annual review on Thursday (July 6).

Over the past two years, Camfed, which currently works in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has supported 542,079 girls at secondary school by building a base of local activists.

Each member of the charity's CAMA alumnae network of rural philanthropists supports two more girls to go to secondary school. This network numbers 84,675 and will grow to 100,000 in 2017.

Schoolgirls in Ghana (Image: Eliza Powell / Camfed)

"We made our pledge in late 2014," said Camfed CEO Lucy Lake. "In 2016 we crossed the halfway mark. Camfed’s approach provides hope, and has become a reference point for what’s possible in the urgent drive to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals."

Camfed’s community-led girls’ education model has been commended by the likes of former Australian PM Julia Gillard, the Brookings Institution, the University of Cambridge Research for Equitable Access and Learning Centre, and writer and activist Gloria Steinem.

The charity's annual review reveals "an unprecedented uplift" in learning outcomes among the most marginalised girls in Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

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Teacher Mentor Mercy Kansale with students Jacquiline (left) and Loveness, both aged 18, at school in Zomba, Malawi (Image: Eliza Powell / Camfed)

In addition to covering girls’ school-going costs and training teachers to deliver psychosocial support to vulnerable children, the programme saw alumnae return to schools as mentors, role models and ‘Learner Guides’ to deliver tailored studies and life skills curriculum.

Camfed believes that with the right kind of support, even the poorest and most disadvantaged students can make good progress through secondary school.

It argues that supporting students’ self-development and life skills in tandem with a focus on the core curriculum raises their achievements, builds academic confidence, and cuts dropout rates.

Marginalised girls in Tanzania were found to have improved their maths exam results by 146 per cent, while girls in comparison schools achieved only a 2 per cent increase.

2016 also saw the first 567 Learner Guides achieve a tailored vocational (BTEC) qualification developed in partnership with Pearson to open up new pathways to teacher training and employment for young women after graduation.

Lucy Lake commented: "Our approach unlocks the transformative potential of girls’ education. The young women in CAMA now lead on programme delivery and innovation, and galvanise community resources in support of more girls.

"But 28 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa remain out of school. The consequences of their exclusion can be seen in early pregnancy, child marriage, and the risks to physical and mental health that ensue.

"In these uncertain times, let's invest in millions of girls and young women, who have the expertise to break the cycle of poverty, and rewrite all of our futures. Together we are an unstoppable human revolution."